RESILIENT MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT : Mercom Capital Group: 2011 Sees $1.9 Billion in Solar Venture Capital, $4 Billion in M&A

Monday, January 9, 2012

Mercom Capital Group: 2011 Sees $1.9 Billion in Solar Venture Capital, $4 Billion in M&A

http://resilientent.blogspot.com/2012/01/mercom-capital-group-2011-sees-19.html

Mercom Capital Group: 2011 Sees $1.9 Billion in Solar Venture Capital, $4 Billion in M&A
No Sign of 'Solyndra Effect' Yet

Wall Street Journal @WSJ New York, NY

Breaking news, investigative reporting, business coverage and features from The Wall Street Journal.http://wsj.com

@MarketWatch MarketWatch MarketWatch Breaking News Bulletins
http://www.marketwatch.com/

AUSTIN, TX, Jan 09, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, today released its annual and fourth quarter funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity report for the solar sector in 2011.

"Investment activity in 2011 was robust," said Raj Prabhu, managing partner of Mercom. "Whether you point to the dramatic module price declines, Europe's diminishing incentives, or the so-called 'Solyndra effect,' solar continued to gain attention and dollars for technology and innovation through venture capital funding."

Venture capital (VC) funding and M&A activity were strong in 2011, setting record numbers. Notable findings include:

VC investment in solar totaled $1.9B (billion) in 111 deals in 2011 --
the highest number of deals ever in a single year.

-- Thin-film technology raised the most VC funding ($595.5M (million)),
beating downstream companies ($339M), crystalline silicon PV ($338M),
concentrated solar power ($308M), and concentrated PV ($129M). Within
thin-film, copper indium gallium (de)selenide (CIGS) companies were
the most popular, raising $467M.

-- Solar thermal power company BrightSource Energy raised $201M in Series
E funding, making it the largest VC investment of 2011. Stion, a
high-efficiency thin-film module manufacturer, was second with $130M.

The other three top VC-funded companies were MiaSole, Suniva and

Heliovolt.

-- The top VC investor was Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which
completed eight transactions. There were 182 VC investors in solar in
2011.

-- While Solyndra dominated headlines, over $700M of VC investment came
after its bankruptcy announcement on August 31.

-- Fourth quarter VC funding totaled $511M, compared to $372M in Q3.

-- M&A activity was more than double that of 2010, with over $4B in
65 deals, of which only 26 were disclosed, compared to $2B in 44 deals
in 2010. The largest M&A transaction was Total's 60 percent stake
in SunPower for $1.4B.

"Falling panel prices and oversupply brought about a lot of consolidation activity," added Prabhu. "With valuations of publicly-traded solar companies at record lows, M&A was the go-to exit strategy."

United States led in the number of deals and VC funding, with 84 deals and $1.5B of investment. Chinese loans, credit facilities and framework agreements came to about $15.7B in ten deals, compared to $32.6B in 2010.

For a copy of Mercom's annual solar funding report and other reports, visit: http://mercomcapital.com/cleanenergyreports.php

About Mercom Capital Group Mercom Capital Group, llc is a global clean energy communications and consulting firm with offices in the United States and India. Mercom's communications division helps clean energy companies build powerful relationships with media, analysts, government decision-makers, local communities and strategic partners. Mercom's consulting division advises clean energy companies on new market entry, custom market intelligence and overall strategic decision-making. Mercom delivers highly respected industry market intelligence reports covering solar, wind and smart grid. Visit Mercom at: http://www.mercomcapital.com . To get a copy of Mercom's weekly clean energy market intelligence reports, visit: http://mercomcapital.com/market_intelligence.php .

Public Relations Contact:
Wendy Prabhu
Mercom Capital Group
Tel: 1.512.215.4452
E-mail: info@mercomcapital.com
SOURCE: Mercom Capital Group mailto:info@mercomcapital.com
ALSO CHECK OUT BELOW:

ALL THINGS DIGITAL @allthingsd All Things D

News, analysis and opinion about the digital revolution. Brought to the web by @waltmossberg, @karaswisher and the AllThingsD reporting staff.

http://allthingsd.com/

@allthingsd (All Things Digital) @ATDacquisitions (Acquisitions) @ATDapple (Apple) @ATDenterprise (Enterprise) @ATDgoogle (Google) @ATDmedia (Media) @ATDmobile (Mobile) @ATDmoney (Money and Commerce) @ATDmoves (Industry Moves) @ATDmsft (Microsoft) @ATDreviews (Reviews) @ATDsocial (Social) @ATDstartups (Startups) @ATDveecees (Venture Capital) @ATDvoices (Voices) @waltmossberg(Walt Mossberg) @karaswisher (Kara Swisher) @JohnPaczkowski (John Paczkowski)
@kabster728 (Katherine Boehret) @pkafka (Peter Kafka) @inafried (Ina Fried) @LizGannes (Liz Gannes)
@triciad (Tricia Duryee) @ahess247 (Arik Hesseldahl) @LaurenGoode (Lauren Goode)
@withdrake (Drake Martinet)

@SmartMoney
SmartMoney New York, NY
SmartMoney is the personal finance website and magazine of The Wall Street Journal.

@barronsonline New York, NY
America's premier financial news magazine since 1921. Abelson, Bary, Epstein, Forsyth, Hulbert, Kahn, Ray, Santoli, Sears and more...
http://barrons.com/